Revelation
by Janika
Summary: The gang has been searching for the tower linking Lyoko to Earth for the last two months and finally they find it, but XANA’s sending a new Pawn. Meanwhile Janika has been keeping secrets from the gang...secrets that could mean win or lose. 10th episode
1. Exposed

**_Post-production note: all my stories were written based on season 1 and what was learned during that time period. Conflicts and plot holes are due to not knowing what would happen and taking a wild guess._**

**10-1: Exposed**

**Well, I had no idea college would be this busy. And it's likely to get busier. Anyway, I'll try to keep updating at least until this story is finished. Only God knows what'll happen after that. Now where was I? Oh yeah!  
So far X.A.N.A.'s Pawns have been defeated, but they still pose great danger mainly b/c of the undetectable connection to Earth. Since the connection also allows the gang to use their Lyoko powers in real life, they're not complaining…except for one or two of them. **

(((-1-)))

The countdown was initiated. Only one of them could make it in time. Ulrich gritted his teeth and tried to move faster, but there was a limit to even that. Odd tried to edge ahead of his buddy, dodging spikes and other traps along the walls and floor. They were nearly neck to neck, racing for their goal before the clock could run out.

Five seconds, four, three, two—

Out of nowhere someone flipped over the two rivals and reached the finish line a split second before them! Both boys dropped their jaws as happy little music chimed from the TV. Jeremy smiled smugly at them as he put the controller down and leaned back on the bed, hands behind his head.

"Someone owes me five bucks."

Odd grumbled as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a crumpled bill. "I want change. That's a twenty, you know."

"I'm aware of that," the blonde boy snickered as he pulled out his wallet. "Ulrich, cough up your share."

"Hey! I didn't bet against you! I know better."

Odd looked over as Kiwi stared yapping at the window. Ambling over, he noticed Janika and Aelita sitting on a bench going through their notes for class. But even from this distance, Odd could tell his girlfriend was distracted, biting her pencil and staring at the grass.

The punk frowned. "Hey, you guys notice anything strange about Janika's behavior lately? She was fine this morning and now she's…_edgy_."

The other two boys looked at each other in surprise and Ulrich blurted out, "What? You mean she didn't tell you?" The dark-haired teenager wanted to snatch the words back as soon as he said them, but it was too late.

Odd looked at him with confusion. "What did she forget to tell me that she obviously told everyone else?"

"Well…you remember earlier today when she compared Jim to a blue whale, right? After school he made her work out in the gym, bench-pressing—"

"Whoa! Hold up! _Janika_ was bench-pressing?"

"Stop interrupting me, Odd," Ulrich said tersely. "It was just the bar anyway. You know how girls are."

"Yumi better not catch you saying that," Jeremy advised.

"Whatever! The point is, Jim said something snide about the reason she was sent to Kadic and all of a sudden the bar she was lifting snapped in half and…well, let's just say both pieces are embedded in the gym wall. Millie and Tamiya already took pictures, so it should be in the school paper tomorrow. I think the headline has something to do with Jim being attacked by a rabid squirrel."

"_Huh?_"

"Well, Jim didn't want anyone to know he said what he said to Janika and she didn't want to get in trouble for damaging school property, so she gave all the credit to him. His excuse was something about being startled or whatever. The girls just filled in the blanks."

"Okay, so _why _did she tell you guys and not me?"

"We thought she had," Jeremy inserted. "I don't know why she wouldn't. The rest of us thought it was pretty funny."

Odd had to admit he would have wanted to see the look on Jim's face when Janika broke a bar she was having trouble picking up, but something about the story wasn't right. He just couldn't put his finger on it…

(V)

If X.A.N.A. had had a physical body, he would have been wringing his hands. The Pawns should have worked. Any one of them should have been more than enough to destroy the Warriors, but not a single one had prevailed. Which meant that somewhere his calculations had gone awry.

How could he be wrong? What had he overlooked? Those questions and others had to be answered before he could release the newest Pawn. He couldn't risk losing her too.

But an instant later, warnings flared in his circuits. No, not yet! The defenses protecting his rewritten code inside the altered Tower that allowed his creations access to Earth was collapsing! The Warriors would be aware of the weakness in mere hours and he had no way to prevent their meddling!

There was no time left. The questions were irrelevant. This Pawn was his last hope. Perhaps she _would_ succeed somehow.

(V)

Janika chewed on the eraser of her pencil, the sight of a bar quivering in the wall a foot from Jim's face flashing through her mind.

"Janika!" Aelita chided, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah—no…I just…think I'm coming down with something." She paused and glanced guiltily up at the dorms toward Odd's room. There was a flash of blonde hair with a shock of violent purple and she quickly averted her eyes. "Look, I'll just study with you later, okay?"

The pink-haired girl tugged her sleeve as Janika stood to leave. "What's wrong? I know something's bothering you. It's clear as day. Is it about earlier?"

The other girl fingered her long brown braid with one hand, slowly nodding. "That…and something else I'm worried about. Just don't tell Odd I'm having trouble, okay? He'll try to help me and that'll just make things worse."

Her friend rose to her feet, a serious expression on her face. "I'm not promising anything. You _do _need help. Don't even try to deny that."

Anger flashed in Janika's sudden catlike green eyes as she turned to face Aelita squarely. "I _don't_ need help! Just get off my case and give me a little privacy. You know, sometimes I just _hate_ you people!"

Feline claws sprouted from her fingers and the materialized girl slowly took several steps back, holding her palms out disarmingly. "Just calm down, that's all I'm saying."

Janika looked down at her hands and visibly flinched. Without another word, she ran away, leaving her schoolbooks on the bench. Aelita rubbed her arms to make the goose bumps go away and gathered together Janika's things. She'd drop them off at her friend's room later. She had to tell the others something else was wrong with their friend.

(V)

Yumi saw Odd come out of the dorms and waved at him, but he didn't seem to see her as he jogged toward the gym. Nettled by his indifference, she frowned and headed in a different direction.

She was nearly to the cafeteria when a certain _someone _suddenly appeared at her elbow. "Oh Yumi! I'm so surprised you bothered to show up. You know, there have been some _awful _rumors flying about lately concerning you."

Her curiosity slightly peaked, the Japanese girl wondered what Sissy had come up with this time.

"And what sort of _dreadful_ things have people been saying about me?" she asked, mock-offended.

"Only that you and the new boy are dating."

Okay, now her curiosity was _really_ peaked. "Who? _William?_"

The principal's daughter nodded coyly.

"Who said I was dating him?"

"Everyone. Even Ulrich mentioned something about you spending too much time with your new boyfriend."

A headache pulsed powerfully through her head as her anger blazed. She stepped back, eyes closed, and massaged her temples to try relieving the stress. It worked, a little. But it still felt like someone was trying to split her skull with a jackhammer.

"Yumi, I know how hard it can be when you first start dating someone worth your time. Personally, I think you're better off with a guy your own age instead of Ulrich."

"You don't know _anything!_" she yelled.

With that last word, Sissy flew back as if she'd been punched. Landing several meters away, she laid on the grass, unmoving. Yumi stared dumbly at her in disbelief. Had she done that?

With surprise she realized her headache had vanished competely!

(V)

Odd walked into the gym. There was Janika against the back wall, one hand touching the end of a metal bar protruding from the bricks. She turned her head slightly so that she could see him, but said nothing.

Slowly he meandered over, trying to act as though he had just realized she was there. "Hey. I heard about the little tantrum. Want to tell me about it?"

"…No," she muttered.

"Why?"

"I just _don't_. Isn't that good enough for you people?" she demanded tartly.

Instead of backing down, Odd stamped his foot solidly on the cement, frustrated. "No! I'm not gonna let this breeze by unless you tell me what's wrong! How am I supposed to help if you won't let me know?"

"You _can't_ help, that's why!" she snapped right back, but her voice cracked.

Though the muted metamorphosis of Bloodlust swept over her features, Janika's attitude appeared more intimidated than enraged.

"I don't want to go," she murmured before dashing out of the gym.

The blonde boy stood there, her words sinking in. "Go?"

(V)

Sissy placed another ice pack on her head and sat down at her desk. She knew Yumi would try to make it sound like she just _happened_ to be standing there when…when a fistful of _nothing_ hit the smartest, beautiful, most popular girl in school!

Well, she'd figure out something.

The principal's daughter fingered the photos of Ulrich in her diary. She smiled faintly, wishing he would at least look at her. Well, one day she would die of a broken heart and then he'd be sorry! He'd come to her funeral and lay a rose on her coffin and say he regretted ever insulting her.

As she sat there, her lamp flickered and went out. If she had been more wary she might have been able to get away, but Sissy didn't even notice the foggy reddish figure as it drifted slowly behind her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up as she felt a cold touch, but before she could even turn around, she lost all feeling in her body.

**Ah, now! I admit this one is moving pretty quick, but there's a lot of stuff I have to cover. Oh, and anonymous comments are back, peoples! No use letting everyone suffer for the sake of one idiot. Poll time! What was the last movie you saw in theaters? (I watched Yours, Mine & Ours, and next week I'll see Narnia)**


	2. Lovebug

**10-2: Lovebug **

**Hmmm…this one really is going faster than I planned. I didn't expect to have this part until like chapter 3 or 4. Maybe this whole story will be shorter. Don't worry. I'll do my best to make it last. Anyway, I had no idea everyone missed me so much. 11 reviews on chapter 1! Yippee! **

(((-2-)))

Mekri took over Sissy in a heartbeat, muscling the girl out, into Lyoko and the body of a black Megatank.

For a moment she felt the same, and then human sensations registered. What were these things? The heaviness and pinpricks all over this body? How could her host have survived in such a strange world full of tactility?

After a few moments of adjusting, she sat up straight in the chair, still uneasy and confused. But she recalled her instructions and came to her feet. She must seek the Warriors out.

Mekri left the room garnished with pink and walked awkwardly down the hall. But the door at the end opened abruptly and two humans walked in. She instantly tensed. She could almost feel the echoes of their laughter with her sensitive skin. She edged up against the wall in order to let them pass by when she caught sight of the male human's face.

Suddenly the strange physical things bothering her faded from her mind. She knew him! He was someone she had waited for since before she had become aware of her own existence!

"_**You!**_" she cried.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Sissy. _This_ is me, and _here_ is Aelita. She's putting your cousin's stuff in her room, all right?" He spoke as if she was an imbecile, but Mekri hardly noticed.

The girl with short pink hair (it was the same shade as the furnishings in her host body's room) gave the boy a quick grin. "Thanks for helping me. I'll be in Jeremy's room after a while. I want to find—" she glanced uneasily at Mekri, "—Janika's notes for Chemistry. Bye, Ulrich." She opened an unlocked door and disappeared inside the room.

His name was _Ulrich!_ He walked away, not even sparing her another glance. She knew he was the one her Master had sent her to destroy, but he was also hers! She would do anything to be with him.

He went upstairs to a room and she followed, keeping a safe distance away. She knew something of human customs and this place called Kadic Academy from what her Master had programmed into her and quickly wrote a note onto the back of a flyer in the hall. Without anything to write with, she substituted her fingernail, tracing words that appeared at her bidding. She slid it under his door, unsigned.

It was possible he would come, so she returned downstairs to the room she had awakened in to prepare herself for him. The nuisances of so much _feeling _dissipating into images and thoughts of him, only him!

(V)

Jeremy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up as he walked along the hall toward his room. He froze, listening intently to determine whether he was just hearing noises from outside or in his head, but suddenly his laptop began beeping, interrupting his concentration.

"What the—?" Rushing into his room, he connected directly to Lyoko on his main computer and located the disturbance. "No way. _Two_ Towers?"

Just then Aelita came in through his open door. "Jeremy, something very strange is going on with Janika. She's—what's that?"

"This just showed up on the scanners from Lyoko."

Hurrying over, she practically shoved her friend out of the way. "This data…Jeremy, this is the Tower X.A.N.A. activated two months ago! It's the one forging the differential link to Earth that allows his Pawns access to people. We have to get to Lyoko and shut it down!"

"What about the other one?" he wondered. "Do you think it could be a Pawn?"

"I'm not sure. We could never locate the Pawns' activated Towers before, so probably not. It might be just a habitual attack. The first is more important now anyway. Let's get the others and go to the factory right away!"

"I'll call them," the blonde computer genius volunteered. Ulrich's phone was off, though, as was Yumi's, and Janika, not having a cell, was unreachable. Odd was the only one to pick up, and he sounded ticked off.

"What is it?" he demanded curtly. "This had better be important."

"Oh, nothing too significant. Just that X.A.N.A. seems to have let his guard slip and revealed the hidden Tower that has been causing all the trouble with his Pawns lately. But if you think it's too dull to be worth your time, I understand."

"Are you serious?"

"No Odd, I'm just saying this to hear myself talk! I can't get hold of Yumi or Ulrich for some reason, and Janika is incommunicado as usual. Man, I _hate _it when this happens! Look, just find everyone, will you?"

There was no reply on the other end for a few seconds. "I don't know where anyone is, but I'll start looking. Ulrich should be right down the hall from you."

(V)

Yumi heard her cell phone ring, but ignored it when she saw it was Jeremy. For some reason she couldn't tell him. What if another headache came on when she was looking at one of her friends? What if it was worse than before? What if she hit them so hard that they died?

She couldn't bear the idea. It was safest just to stay away from them.

Another headache began to harass her. She sat down and put her head between her knees, keeping her eyes shut tightly. It wouldn't stop, just kept pounding and battering and growing until—

"Yumi, are you okay?"

She barely managed to look away from the speaker, her eyes latching onto the tree limbs above. The headache vanished just as several limbs practically exploded!

The boy standing there threw himself atop her to protect Yumi from the flying debris, receiving a few nasty cuts and splinters for his trouble.

"How the heck did _that _happen?" he wondered in awe. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"William? What are you doing here?" She stared back down at the woodchips and shredded leaves littered everywhere. Her Telekinesis did _that!_

"Are you feeling all right? You look pale, not that I blame you after something crazy like this. Do you need to see the nurse?" he seemed sincerely worried.

"Don't touch me. I don't want to hurt you," she whispered.

(V)

Ulrich didn't hear his cell because he had it switched off. The note under his door was really strange. It sounded like it was from Yumi, saying to meet him at the garden shed in fifteen minutes.

Instantly he jumped to the conclusion that she wanted to confess something (not that he had any idea of what it could be, but boys think like boys). He sprinted to the garden shed ten minutes later and carefully eased the door open. Someone was definitely there, way in the back.

"Yumi, I got your note. What's wrong?" he asked closing the door behind him.

The brown-haired boy walked farther into the shed, wondering what she wanted to say. Then she turned slightly.

"_**Sissy?**_ What are you doing here?"

She was wearing black, which was why he got her mixed up with Yumi, but it was such a skimpy outfit that Ulrich was getting just a little freaked out. She was completely silent. None of that sappy 'Oh Ulricky, don't you like my new clothes?' or anything. She just stared at him…_lovingly_.

"What are you doing here?" he repeated, a bit more alarmed. He held his ground as she came closer, determined not to show his dislike. "Did you give me that note?"

She eased her hands up onto his jacket. "Do you feel it?"

"What?" the teenager wondered, humoring her slightly to gain a little time.

She pressed up against him, trailing her polished fingernails along his cheek.

"Fire," came her whisper. "Fire deep in here." She laid a hand delicately over her heart and then shifted her hand to his chest. "Do you feel it there the way I do?"

He gulped and moved away, delicately lifting her hands off his clothes and putting them at her sides.

"Sissy, I think you might be a little high or something. Are you sure you don't want to go see the nurse or anything?"

She smiled dreamily at him. "Call me what you will as long as you're mine."

"Excuse me? Um…I'm getting some really weird vibes here, and I need to go see my friends, so if you'll just let me by…"

He slipped past her and made it to the door, but it refused to budge. Ulrich turned back around and saw Sissy leaning against a crate with a placid smile on her face.

"What did you do to the door?"

"The lock is secure. We can be alone here. Don't worry. Your little friends won't bother us. They don't even know you're missing, and now you can't speak with them."

He had pulled out his cell while she talked, but even as he pushed the buttons, they melted! The phone grew hot in his hand and he dropped it, waving his fingers about to cool them off. Looking down at it, Ulrich watched the plastic and metal dissolve on the cement floor of the garden shed. He turned his head slowly to look at the girl behind him.

For the first time since he got there, he noticed that her voice was strange, not her own. The dark-haired boy backed as far away from her as he could. It finally struck him that Sissy wasn't who or what she seemed.

"Who are you?"

"Your shadow," she murmured, standing up straight.  
"Your vassal," she began to saunter toward him.  
"Your admirer," she was a meter away. Her eyes glowed a soft ruby shade as she halted mere centimeters from him.  
"I am Mekri."

She was a _Pawn!_

**Well, just about everyone seems to be looking forward to Narnia, but according to what I've seen on Disney Channel it looks like the movie will be slightly different from the book (did anyone expect less?). I'm not too fond of the girl who plays Lucy, personally, but we'll have to wait and see how she acts this weekend.  
New poll: what would you do if your best friend was really an alien?**


	3. Hindsight

**10-3: Hindsight is 20/20 **

**In honor of failing my Political Science course, I am submitting this chapter early. Everyone enjoy. And don't forget that suggestions for any new twists are always acceptable! **

(((-3-)))

Odd checked the cafeteria and snatched a couple rolls before realizing that none of the gang was there. Well, they had to be somewhere. He was just about to take a bite out of the second roll when his vision went white and time seemed to stand still.

In slow motion an image played before his eyes.

—_Yumi threw her hand out, a snarl distorting her face as she faced Sissy. The other girl braced herself as she was forced back by nothing at all, but managed to keep her feet. Sissy grinned wickedly, red light appearing in her eye sockets as she formed a fireball between her hands. People screamed as they began to run and a dark-haired girl in the background tried to force her way forward to help. Yumi's eyes widened as she saw the flaming orb and—_

Odd doubled over, weakened by the vision. He yanked out his cell and punched in Jeremy's number as he took off at a dead run. The computer whiz picked up on the first ring.

"It's Sissy!" he yelled. "Sissy's the Pawn! She controls fire or something, and Yumi has her Telekinesis. I saw her fighting the Pawn."

"What, _already?_ Geez! This new one isn't wasting any time, is she?"

"My Anticipation gave me a little foresight. They were in a place like a diner or a restaurant or something surrounded by a bunch of screaming people, and I think Janika was there too."

"Thanks for the head's up, Odd, but the others still don't know about this. Apparently Yumi's going to protect home base and so is Janika, but what about Ulrich? He'd better not be piddling around. We're going to need him and you on Lyoko to protect Aelita while she deactivates the Tower. Who _knows_ what Sissy could be doing there right now?"

(V)

Ulrich swallowed forcefully. If he made her angry here, he might as well dig his own grave. How could he get out of there and warn the others, especially without his cell? And what about the _real_ Sissy on Lyoko?

He had to be very gentle with Mekri. If she suspected he was being untruthful or trying to two-time her, she could tear him to pieces in an instant.

"Mekri, what do you want from me?"

"Everything," she breathed.

He gulped, his mind working furiously. "Do you want to go somewhere more _romantic?_ We're in the middle of the _garden shed_, for pete's sake! There must be a much nicer place to get to know one another outside school, don't you think?"

Her discolored eyes lit up at the suggestion. "_Anything_ for my beloved Ulrich."

She gestured toward the door and steam rose from the knob until it melted completely and fell off. The black-haired girl took his hand and led him outside.

At least he knew for sure that her element was fire. But how could he get away from her without getting burned to a toast? Maybe if he went to the men's room—wait, she was from Lyoko. She didn't know about bathrooms and would probably follow him inside. If he tried to explain, she might get angry and think he was trying to ditch her. What was he going to _do?_

"Sissy!"

Ulrich whipped his head around and groaned inwardly. It was Sissy's father. Just more trouble.

"Young lady, what are you doing wearing those clothes? Where did you even _get_ them?" Principal Delmas demanded.

Mekri stared curiously at him as though wondering why he had the gall to speak to her and whether he was worth her time.

"If you don't get back to your room and change _this instant_, I will consider permanently expelling you from the dorms," he threatened.

Instead of answering, the Pawn in Sissy's body glanced over at a nearby pile of bracken beside the garden shed. It burst into flames and sent the principal into a panic, which appeared to be exactly what she wanted.

"Ulrich, go get Jim! I'll get the water hose." He ran over to the side of the building and turned the faucet, but as he lifted up the hose, it liquidated in his hands, melting into a snaky rope of gooey mess.

Sissy's father was still busy trying to get the melted plastic off his skin when he looked up and realized that neither his daughter nor Ulrich were anywhere to be seen.

(V)

Janika stared into the mirror, her nose barely a centimeter from it. Vertical pupils stared back at her. They faded slowly and the teenager leaned back with a choked sob. "I can't let her see me like this!"

She meandered back to her room slowly, taking time to kick a can lying in the hall for a few steps. Finally she reached her door and went in, stopping as soon as she entered. Something was different. Someone had been shuffling through her papers and her laptop was open. The boxes filled with most of her junk remained undisturbed, though.

Who would want to go through her things? A whiff of strawberry-scented perfume answered her question: Aelita.

She growled with aggravation. Who were _they_ to go snooping around in her room? If they wanted to know something they could wait for her to _tell_ them. Why did they always have to be so nosy?

Beginning to put everything back in its rightful place, Janika suddenly caught sight of the digital clock and gasped. She was late!

(V)

Yumi sat on a bench in the wooded park where no one could bother her. She didn't know what to tell the others. She was still stewing in her own misery when there came a yell from across the campus.

The Japanese girl was on her feet in a flash, racing to reach the scene. On the way, she caught sight of Sissy and Ulrich walking off the campus. His arm was wrapped protectively around her shoulders as she leaned dependently on him.

Fury enveloped her as she forgot everything except them. Someone laid a hand on her shoulder and she nearly bit it off. "Don't touch me!"

"Hey! Cut it out, you crocodile!" Herb yelled at her. "What's Ulrich doing with my girl? That's all I want to know."

"Well _**I**_ want to know what Sissy's doing with my boyfriend, _okay?_ This morning he blew her off like always and now all of a sudden he's got her wrapped around him like a second jacket."

Herb shuddered at her imagery. "Coming?" he asked, shaking off the willies.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Are you going to help me break them up or not?"

"Don't think I won't!" she promised.

Luckily her head wasn't hurting. As long as she could keep from getting a headache she'd be fine. Maybe…

(V)

Odd didn't see any of them, but he did catch sight of Janika as she hurried out of the dorms, slipping a jacket on over her orange T-shirt. She seemed preoccupied and didn't notice him until he was jogging along beside her.

"Going somewhere?"

"I have things to do, yeah."

"X.A.N.A.'s attacking. It's a Pawn in Sissy's body. She has fire-powers or something."

"_What?_ No way! Not today of all days!" she stopped dead in her tracks, shaking her head back and forth vigorously. "Forget it. I can't help. You guys worked fine with just the three of you on Lyoko before I got here."

Odd stared at her, stunned. "What are you saying? Look Janika, that was _before _X.A.N.A. started using Pawns. You're a great fighter and you can help us beat him. You've _got_ to come!"

She shook her head again. "No Odd, I'm out of control. I don't have power over my Bloodlust and I can't help you guys without seeing everyone as enemies. I want to help, I really do! But not today. I have to find my—do something. You guys can do this one without me."

"Jeremy found the Pawn-Tower," he informed her. "All Aelita needs to do is deactivate it and everything will go back to normal. You won't have your Special Ability on Earth anymore and neither will the rest of us! You won't have to worry about getting emotional anymore."

She stared down at her feet, clearly considering his words with eagerness, but unwilling to dream of freedom lest she accidentally trigger her Ability.

He tipped Janika's head upward and looked evenly into her eyes. "But we have to win first."

"Odd…" she began, almost choking. "…I'm leaving this evening."

He stared at the dark-haired girl, shocked. "But…why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know! I thought if I ignored it, it wouldn't come so quickly…but my sister is coming to help me. I can't let her get in the Pawn's way. I have to protect her until you guys can fix the Tower. I'd help, but I can't while she's here. I'm sorry."

**Who'd have thought she was deceitful? Hey cool! I had no idea that the name of my story was the same as one of the two new episodes that comes on tomorrow. Am I good or what?  
Now the poll: how crazy of an excuse could you give an adult if they caught you wandering around a Hermitage looking for "clues"?**


	4. Mistake

**10-4: Mistake **

**I'm updating pretty quick, huh? I'll dedicate this chapter to Lyokolady for being such a great reviewer. It's all yours! **

(((-4-)))

Odd stared at Janika in disbelief. "No way…you can't be leaving!"

She wouldn't meet his eyes, one hand nervously knotting her braid around her wrist. "Do you really think I would do this to you guys out of spite? Look, I need to sit down and relax. Maybe have a drink or something."

"You can't have alcohol!"

"I meant more like _cocoa_. Hey, maybe I'll see you before I go away." She gave him a quick hug before heading off the school grounds.

(V)

The weather was frigid, but Mekri didn't seem to mind despite the fact that only a few threads seemed to be holding the whole outfit together. Maybe her element kept her warm.

Ulrich walked into a coffee shop and sat down at a booth in front of the windows. Hopefully one of the gang would see him and realize what was going on, but in the meantime he was stuck with Mekri. He treated her politely and she enjoyed his attentions.

He happened to glance over at one point and saw Janika sitting nearby, sipping cocoa and glancing distractedly out the front window. She was twisting a loose strand of hair around one finger and biting her lip.

"Mekri, why don't I get you something nice to drink? You can relax here while I go order it, all right? I promise I'll be right back."

She smiled and nodded, allowing him to leave. The dark-haired teenager stood in line and found himself close enough to speak with his friend.

"_Psst_, Janika! We've got big trouble here! I'm trapped with a Pawn right over there," he said gesturing toward the table.

"Isn't that Sissy?" Janika glanced back at him and smiled apologetically. "Uh, I know that I look—"

"Who is _this?_" the Pawn stormed, appearing beside Ulrich and staring at the girl there with jealousy.

Ulrich gulped. "Mekri! This is your _friend_. You _don't_ want to hurt her."

She glared at Janika, murder in her eyes. "I know you. My Master told me to kill you. I won't harm my Ulrich, but I have no misgivings about you!"

She raised a hand and Janika jerked back instinctively, but Ulrich grabbed Mekri and they both fell to the floor together. She didn't resist him as he pinned her down, only appearing hurt as her true love 'betrayed' her.

"Get your mitts off my girl!" someone yelled.

Ulrich looked up just in time to get punched in the face by Herb. Mekri gasped in shock, her eyes turning red with a fiery light.

"Uh oh…" Janika muttered right before a small explosion in the tiles just beneath the pot-marked kid's feet blew up, tossing him into a table on the other side of the shop. The stench of burnt hair and melted plastic filled the shop and several people cried out.

Janika hunkered under her table beside Ulrich as he held his bleeding nose. "I take it that was Sissy's doing."

"Mekri's actually. Sissy should be on Lyoko by now. Oh _no!_"

Janika looked completely incredulous. "_What?_"

"Yumi's at the door! If Mekri sees her, she'll attack for sure."

He gestured wildly at the Japanese girl to leave, but Yumi ignored him, intent on Mekri alone. And the Pawn had spotted her.

"Another Warrior?" She grinned with malice. "My Master will not be wholly displeased with my actions."

The girl at the door glowered, crossing her arms over her chest as if to gather something to herself before throwing them out quickly, and a solid, near-invisible barrier pressing outward appeared. Mekri braced herself, pushing her hands forward to form a flaming shield. It absorbed most of Yumi's telekinetic energy until she was forced to break the attack off.

One hand went to the girl's head and she leaned against a table, glancing over toward Ulrich to mouth something. More people were screaming by now. One person said something like, "See, Meredith! _This _is what you get when you complain about cheap French entertainment!"

Mekri's grin twisted into a sneer and a ball of fire blossomed in the air between her hands. With a cry of passionate hatred, she threw it at her enemy.

Janika tried to dart forward to help, but Ulrich grabbed her ankle. She attempted to kick him loose, but he wouldn't let go. The fireball flew toward Yumi and she looked up right on cue. Just as it was about to strike her, a shield appeared. It bounced straight back at the Pawn and Mekri's eyes widened just before she was thrown back behind the counter by her own assault.

The Japanese girl looked over at her friends. "Get out of here! I can take care of her. Once Aelita deactivates the Tower she'll be back to normal, so the sooner the better. Get going, you two!"

Ulrich yanked Janika to her feet. "Let's go!"

"I can't! I don't even know—"

He turned on her. "You want to come on your own or should I leave you to deal with _that?_"

"I'm coming," she answered, glancing back at the counter.

(V)

Jeremy turned as the elevator opened. He had just located the large black Megatank and both Towers, oddly enough, which were near each other in the Desert Region. Janika and Ulrich stepped out and he raised his eyebrows curiously.

"I thought you wouldn't be here, Janika. According to Odd you were…indisposed? He wasn't very clear on what happened between you two."

"Plans change," she shrugged, looking around the room with cool disposition before grinning suddenly. "So are we gonna do this or what?"

He gestured to the elevator. "Odd and Aelita are being transferred now. Why don't you guys go down there too? I'm still trying to calm Sissy down. She's flipping out and thinks she's having a nightmare."

He worked on the transfer while muttering, "Yes Sissy, I know it's terrible and you just finished getting a pedicure—" shudder "—but as long as you keep absolutely still and don't do anything rash you'll be fine and back in your body real soon, okay? Just imagine rainbow-colored ponies."

Janika let Ulrich lead the way and she kept very quiet. She had hardly spoken a word since the coffee shop. It was very uncharacteristic of her, but he was too preoccupied worrying about Yumi to ask what was bothering her. The doors split open and they entered the lowest level. She watched the dark-haired boy go into a scanner as it opened for him, and then did the same.

Upstairs Jeremy went through all the familiar motions and virtualized them both, but even as they appeared in Lyoko, a red exclamation point and warning signals flared around Janika's profile. The blonde computer operator skimmed the information and his mouth dropped open.

"No way…this is _impossible!_"

(V)

They virtualized behind some sheltering rocks and Ulrich landed neatly on his feet. Janika, on the other hand, fell flat on her face. She bean to rub her jaw as she stood up, but stopped when she caught sight of her hands and the cheetah spots on her skin. She stared at herself with amazement, marveling especially at her tail.

"Whoa, now _this_ is freaky, but it feels so real! What kind of place is this?"

She finally saw the others' serious expressions and started as Ulrich's katana appeared centimeters from her throat in less than the blink of an eye.

"Who are you?"

The other kid in purple aimed his arm at her, glaring with something that seemed more than suspicion. Aelita stood behind them, ready to bolt in case she tried to attack.

But the girl that looked like Janika held up her hands disarmingly. "I guess I got caught, huh?"

"Guys?" Jeremy's voice came over. "There is definitely something wrong with Janika."

"I think we figured that out on our own," Odd informed him dryly.

"Hey kid, you'll put someone's eye out with that thing," she told Ulrich. He didn't move and she swallowed nervously as he frowned. "Okay, okay, I'll come clean. I'm her twin sister, Jira."

(V)

Janika checked her watch again. "Man, _where_ is that stupid bus?"

"Are you waiting for one?" a young woman in a business suit wondered.

"Yeah, the 2884 from out of town."

"It came and left about fifteen minutes ago. You look familiar. Didn't you get off?"

"You've _got_ to be kidding me! Awww, man! I told her to stay put. She _never_ listens to me!" she muttered, beginning to walk away and ignoring the woman's inquiring gaze. "I'm gonna kill her. I'm going to _tear_ the lungs out of her chest and mash them into ground beef to make a hamburger, and _then_ I'll go to work on her!"

She twisted around as there came several explosions in rapid succession a couple blocks away. "Nuh uh! This is insane!"

Breaking into a run, she began to rush toward the clamor. It didn't take her long to get there and see what was left of the coffee shop. People were running in all directions, several taking snapshots on cameras of a pair that had crashed through the front window of the store: Yumi and Sissy.

They were both screaming something about Ulrich not liking the other. The Pawn threw fireballs while the Japanese girl used her Telekinesis to block and attack the other. She somehow managed to clout Mekri on the side of her head and glanced over, catching sight of Janika.

"What are you still doing here?" she shouted, breathing heavily. "I told you and Ulrich to get to Lyoko and help Aelita!"

"You didn't tell me squat!" the girl with a long braid shouted back. "I've been waiting for my—son of a _beandip!_" She took off at a dead run for the factory.

**Well, was that enough of a plot twist? Never thought she had a _twin _sister, did ya? I know it takes the spotlight off Mekri and Yumi, but all they're really doing is fighting. Can you guess what'll happen next?  
Poll: out of curiosity, what would you do if you won the lottery? (if you want to follow Ulrich's unselfish example, fine w/ me)**


	5. Bigger Problem

**10-5: Bigger Problem **

**This one is dedicated to Lobo-Chan for her continued devotion and reviews. I would also like to extend this dedication to Dan, (Rose), Lyokolady, Kayrana, K1092000, Bringer of Good Cheer, Onono, Rycr and AgentTitanium. And this is mainly b/c I know some of you will raise heck w/ me if I don't give you a chapter. **

**Oh, and _nobody_ tell me what happened in the last two new episodes! I want to watch them and find out myself. By the way, both Narnia and King Kong were AWESOME! **

(((-5-)))

"Wait a sec! Why didn't Janika ever tell us she had a sibling who looks _exactly_ like her?" Ulrich asked.

"Apparently she keeps a lot of secrets from us," Odd muttered crossly.

"Janika's always been sort of a secretive girl," Jira said as she looked down at the ninja stars on her belt. "I'm the popular one and she's…nonconformist."

"Great, whatever," Ulrich said matter-of-factly. "You can't stay here. Jeremy, get her back to Earth."

"It's not that easy," he replied, his voice worried. "Oh, this is not good…"

"Jeremy, how did this happen? No one except Janika should be able to access her profile and Lyoko, right?" the pink-haired girl wondered.

"I'm working on it, Aelita. Man, I really wish she had a cell phone more than ever right now!" His hands passed over the keyboard at light speed. "Jira has the same DNA as Janika, so that explains how she got to Lyoko, but the problem is that she's _not_ Janika. According to my calculations, it will be impossible for her to get back to Earth if we use the return to the past sequence."

The Warriors looked at each other and then at the girl who was almost identical to their friend.

"Why exactly did you pretend to be Janika and sneak to Lyoko?"

She put her hands behind her and rocked back and forth on her heels like a little girl, batting her long lashes at them sweetly.

"Look, I just wanted to know what Nika's big secret was. She's been hinting at it for months and would never give me anything solid. I thought she was just playing with me, but look at this place! It's _real!_ I never would have thought a loser like her would ever tumble into a rabbit hole like this, and—"

Ulrich closed his fist around her wrist and a flicker of pain crossed her face. "Look Jira, we can't let you get devirtualized or anything until Jeremy can figure out how to fix this problem, so stick close to us. If me or Odd can't protect you, then Aelita will do her best, but whatever happens don't try to help. You know nothing about Lyoko."

"Well, I'd be able to help if you explained. I _can_ do this, you know!" she retorted, wrenching her arm away from him.

Odd laughed out loud. "It's hard to tell you apart from Janika."

Jira looked at him, confused. "Huh? You mean she actually interacts with people?" She snorted. "That's not the way she is at home. Nika's one of the most _boring_ people ever, always playing around on her laptop or reading books."

"Who cares about that right now?" Aelita interrupted. "We have to reach the Tower and deactivate it!"

They began running, but Odd and Ulrich still talked back and forth low enough so that the girls couldn't hear them.

"When was the last time you saw Janika read anything other than a textbook?"

Ulrich shrugged. "She lent me one or two when she first joined the gang, but quit carrying them around after Sissy stole her bookbag. Remember the whole incident with her diary?"

"Yeah, but she didn't have anything in there about a twin sister. Hey wait a sec! She lent _you _books? Why didn't she ever offer them to me?"

"Maybe because she knew you'd never get around to reading them."

Odd snorted. "Must have been back when she was still in love with you."

"Hey, did anyone ever tell her the truth after she got amnesia? You know, that she liked me instead of you for the longest time?"

"Did _you?_" the blonde asked.

Ulrich didn't reply.

"Neither did I. Honestly, I like things the way they are right now. Well, not _exactly_ right now. It would have been nice for her to tell us about Jira before her doppelganger decided to show up."

"What's a doppelganger?"

Odd rolled his eyes and didn't answer.

"Guys, I finally got Sissy to quiet down," Jeremy sighed heavily from overhead. "She's still a little frightened, but as long as she doesn't trigger her weapon she should be fine. Do you want me to send her your way?"

"Jeremy, I think we've got enough on our plate without Sissy to get in the way," Odd said with a glance toward Jira.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Okay. I'll have her stay put. I gotta work on decoding Janika's profile, so I won't be able to keep an eye out for monsters. You'll have to do that on your own. Think you can handle it without me?"

"We'll be fine."

It wasn't long before X.A.N.A. decided to send a little reception committee their way. Jira insisted that she could take care of herself, but Aelita grabbed her anyway and dragged her behind a sheltering mound of boulders.

Four Megatanks aimed directly at Odd as he ran straight toward them. He dodged one's beam and latched onto the shell of an unopened Tank, his catlike claws digging in. It rolled this way and that until another monster aiming at Odd attacked. The panther-Warrior leaped clear and the fiery beam pierced the other monster's body armor, blowing it up.

Instead of stopping the attack, the Megatank continued to use its wall of red energy, sweeping it after Odd as he ran. Unfortunately, the Megatank on the other side behind it couldn't move fast enough and exploded too.

The last robot also shot out its beam and tried to catch Odd in the crossfire. In a flash Ulrich was there, using his sword to block the advancing assault. He had noticed immediately that the first monster had used its weapon for a prolonged period of time and that the juice powering it was being sapped.

Odd raced past him to safety and shot a Laser Arrow behind at the bull's eye just as the Tank chasing him completely gave out. Ulrich's enemy backed down and he shoved his katana right into its weak spot.

Both of them detonated and Jira cheered from her perch on top of the rock she was supposed to be hiding behind. "Man, this is one _awesome_ game! I can't believe Nika never told me about it!"

"I thought she hated that name," Ulrich said.

"You know how family is. My parents still call me by my real name."

"Odd isn't your real name?"

He glared at the samurai. "Does 'Odd' sound like anything a sane person would name their kid?" The other shook his head. "My point exactly. And no, I will not tell you my real name."

"Hey, why not?"

"Because I said so!"

The pink-haired girl came running up just then. "Are you guys done yet? I saw about seven more Megatanks on the move."

"We'd better get out of here before they arrive."

"It's not us they're after. They're attacking Sissy."

(V)

_"Jeremy, this place is really freaking me out!"_

"I know, Sissy. That's the seventeenth time you've told me. Could I _please_ concentrate on what I'm doing without anymore interruptions?"

_"Well **excuuuuuse** me! I'm just trapped in this whole parallel universe thing and bored out of my skull with no one to talk to except a brainiac who doesn't even like me. Sor-**reee!** I'll just sit in my corner and sulk while those weird little round thingies over there keep on coming."_

"Round thingies?"

_"Oh, **now** you want to listen? Some of them opened up and are looking at me strangely. Jeremy, I'm getting a little nervous here!"_

"Sissy, get out of the way!" he ordered, bringing up the correct frame on his monitor. Seven Megatanks had all opened up and were beginning to fire together on Sissy. Their combined strength could seriously maim or even destroy her! "Close your shell! Move! Do _something!_"

(V)

Maybe he shouldn't have said that last. Sissy let loose a humongous energy beam that cleaned up the attacking Megatanks in one fell swoop. But her weapon had rested too long in the same spot. The platform split neatly in half and everywhere her beam had passed was burnt an uncheery crispy color.

Only by sheer luck were the others out of range. A dozen meters closer and they would have been painfully devirtualized. As it was, they ducked for cover during the explosion and decided that they didn't need to help Sissy. She could take care of herself just fine.

Jira found herself buried beneath the others when they piled on to protect her. Odd's purple tail wagged in front of her nose and the hilt of Ulrich's katana was poking her in the side.

"Okay!" she wheezed. "I'm safe, so you guys can get up. I'm suffocating under here!"

"Technically it's impossible to suffocate here on Lyoko," Aelita said as she stood up. "We're not far from the Tower at all. Let's make a run for it."

Another four Megatanks showed up to make trouble, but Odd and Ulrich took care of them without a hitch. They were just high-fiving when a hidden one attacked from the shadow of a boulder. Both boys were caught in the flare and laid on the Desert earth, groaning.

"Take this, you stupid bouncy-ball!"

Jira took a flying leap from where she had been concealed with Aelita and three ninja stars zipped through the air toward it. One ricocheted off the shell and two made it inside, both striking their mark dead-center.

The Warriors stood up as the Tank imploded, rubbing the limbs that had been damaged. They glared at Jira as she gave a victory hoot.

"You were supposed to stay put!" Ulrich chastised. "If you can't follow orders, I'll have to tie you up and carry you over my shoulder the whole time. Do you understand?"

Janika's twin pouted. "Whatever."

Odd gave the A.I. a nudge. "Aelita, go. I hope we're not too late to keep Yumi from getting the snot kicked out of her. I'd like to see who would win: Telekinetic Geisha or Upgraded Sissy with fire-power. What was she like anyway?"

Ulrich massaged his neck tiredly with one hand as Aelita entered the Tower. "Don't get me started. Personally, it was hard to tell Mekri from Sissy, the main difference being the powers."

(V)

Yumi wasn't having a good time with Mekri. They seemed to be at a stalemate. The Pawn couldn't attack her as long as she still had her Telekinesis to block anything she threw.

Strangely enough, her headaches seemed to lend her strength to fight. Even though they dulled her wits a little every now and again, Yumi began jabbing fingers into her temples to induce pain. But she was losing the potency of her barriers.

She could no longer push Mekri back, but was forced to move permanently to a defensive position. They had left the coffee shop long ago and were now against the side of a business building. Police sirens and firetruck alarms were so loud she could hardly hear, but the Japanese girl refused to let herself get distracted by trivial things.

Mekri was now completely on the offensive, sending attack after attack at Yumi, edging her up against the brick wall until there was no escape. She was tired and the Pawn was not.

A victorious smirk plastered Mekri's face as she formed a fireball larger than all the others. The Japanese girl stared at it in horror. She was too exhausted. There was no mind behind her headaches anymore. There was no way she'd ever be able to deflect that one! She stood up straight to face death like a Warrior.

At that moment Aelita deactivated the Tower.

Both Yumi and Mekri fell to the ground. The Pawn writhed there, squirming like an eel pierced by a stake. Her wavering squeal made everyone cover their ears until it died away. At long last she lay still, unmoving and seemingly dead.

The other girl had felt something wrench inside her, as if half her intestines were being yanked out. Her stomach roiled and she tasted bile, knowing immediately that her Telekinesis was gone.

**Well, I'll try to get more typed up later, but you know how things are during the holidays. Speaking of which, the whole Happy Holidays bit people are doing now instead of Merry Christmas is actually kind of funny, b/c the definition of holiday is Holy Day. Lol! You just gotta love those idiots who think they're so smart. **

**Poll! What is an _interesting_ gift you guys could ask for Christmas? (Me? Oh, thanks for asking! I want a supercomputer and maybe a nice pair of kitten-mittens) Merry Christmas!**


	6. The Penalty

**10-6: The Penalty **

**Well, Christmas was wonderful! My cousin is going to have a baby in August and I got tons of loot! I also went to this wonderful Midnight Mass w/ my mom and little sister. Anyway, this is one of those chapters that leaves you going "Huh? No way!" so try not to bug me too much about that. **

(((-6-)))

The bolt on the elevator released and Jeremy snapped his head around as Janika lurched in.

"That was totally insane! It took me twenty minutes to get here thanks to all the police and firefighters lined up and down the streets trying to figure out how to stop Yumi and that new Pawn. And then I got sick about five minutes ago. Ugh! Good thing I skipped lunch." She stopped talking abruptly as she looked around. "Hey, where is she? I _know_ Jira's here someplace."

The supercomputer's operator glared at her despite the fact that he seemed a little green himself. "I'll give you one guess."

Janika's legs went weak and she leaned against the console. "You let her waltz in here and go to Lyoko? How could you guys _not_ realize that she wasn't me?"

His eyes narrowed even farther. "First of all, we had no reason to doubt that anyone who _looked_ like you wouldn't _be_ you. Secondly, when was the last time you were trapped alone with Sissy? She wouldn't get out of my head! I swear if Aelita hadn't deactivated the Tower when she did, I would have committed suicide. I had no idea there were so many uses for eye shadow, though. I also told her that mascara was made from bat guano and old tires."

"I honestly didn't want to know that. But why haven't we gone back in time? Usually you do that immediately."

"Well, I would have, but we have a major problem here thanks to your twin sister. If I trigger the return to the past sequence, Jira will wind up with her face on a milk carton."

Janika stared at him blankly. "What does _milk_ have to do with anything going on here?"

"_I mean _she'll vanish."

She pushed past Jeremy to get a closer look at the monitor. He moved aside as she spoke, "The longer she stays on Lyoko, the more she'll be able to remember."

Jeremy looked at her, puzzled. "What? How do you know that?"

She gave him a half-smile and shrugged. "How do you think I was able to remember my first mission? Not that I remember much except a vague idea and you guys, but that's beside the point. We need to get her out ASAP because the biggest secret in the world and my sister do not go together. She is incapable of hiding anything. How long has she been there?"

"It doesn't matter," he said softly.

Janika turned, prepared to bite his head off, but he held up a hand.

"There's no way to reverse the process. Every minute on Lyoko is killing her. Soon she'll just fade away completely. Returning to the past only accelerates the development."

The dark-haired girl stared at the screens, seemingly oblivious to everything. She stood there silently for several minutes. He didn't have the heart to interrupt her thoughts.

"Jeremy," she said suddenly, "do the central analog converters have enough capacity to replace one contaminated atypical variable by a direct-transference modulator?"

The blonde computer whiz rubbed his chin as he considered the possibility. "I'm pretty sure they do, but if I try to give Jira the missing links from your profile from here, it would probably retaliate and destroy all her data instantaneously."

"No…" Janika murmured quietly, "…I mean _directly_."

He was on his feet clutching her shoulders the second the words were out of her mouth.

"It's too dangerous, Janika! She might be able to leave, but you would either be trapped there in her place or your virtual character would break down from the sudden decrease in essential data density. You could _die!_"

The dark-haired girl stared at him, no emotion crossing her face. "I know. But I'll never be able to live with myself knowing I could have saved her life and didn't. What if she was your mother?"

She knew how much Jeremy's mother meant to him.

He looked away. "You'd better get down there before I change my mind."

She didn't hug him or race to the elevator. Janika merely turned and walked into it calmly as if she didn't care.

"Don't tell them until afterward. It's better this way."

The blonde boy leaned heavily against his computer. As he raised his eyes again, an expression of confusion crossed his face.

"What in the world? How did the second Tower deactivate by itself? Wait…if Aelita deactivated the one that made the second link from Lyoko to earth, how was it also able to return Sissy to her own body?"

The indirect procedure in which the Tower had been deactivated would only result in some sort of…hiccup! A mistake had to have been made during the transfer. But what could it be? The conundrum puzzled him.

(V)

Odd and Ulrich were keeping a close eye on Jira as she tried to sneak around them to explore. They weren't falling for anything. Not even the look of horror on her face as she pointed behind them screaming, "_Godzilla!_"

When Janika virtualized in the air nearby and landed neatly on the ground, the boys let out sighs of relief, glad their work was done. Jira stared at her with a glare, as did her twin.

"_Nika_."

"_Jiranda_."

Her twin held one ninja star dangerously, her expression becoming deadly. "You know how much I hate that name."

"Funny how you never seem to remember how much I loathe my own nickname."

"See? There you go _again_ with all the fancy words. It's no wonder you never had any friends back home. I'm surprised you managed to make any here."

"At least my friends care about me and don't just hang around because I'm popular. All yours do is dance around with compliments and then stab you in the _back!_"

With the last word, Jira leaped straight up in the air to avoid a spinning ninja star and let fly one of her own. Janika executed a perfect double back flip, casting two more of her weapons halfway through the stunt as she dodged her sister's. The other took cover behind a rock and cast four shurikens in rapid succession, then leaped from her rock to attack Janika with her claws.

The guys, meanwhile, were totally confused. Ulrich was prepared to sit back and watch, strangely enough. "A real catfight," he winked at his friend. But Odd punched him in the shoulder and told him to help out.

They grabbed the cheetahs as they tussled back and forth, trying their best to claw each other's eyes out. Odd grabbed one by the braid and tail, yanking her out of the fray at such an awkward position that she screamed more out of humiliation than pain.

Ulrich seized the other twin by the arms and pulled her off. His captive yelled several obscenities as they were separated, so he knew she wasn't Janika. He turned to Aelita as she exited the Tower and said, "Cover your ears, would you?"

"Let me go, Odd!" Janika screeched at him.

"Are you going to fight with her again?" he asked.

She sullenly shook her head.

"Fine," Odd said, depositing her on the Desert sand.

The samurai also released his prisoner and she walked purposely toward her sister. The boys were ready to grab them again when the two sisters embraced more warmly than should have been possible after they had just tried to kick the snot out of each other.

"What a welcome!" Jira laughed. "Usually we just throw each other on the floor, but this is _way_ more fun!"

Janika had an affectionate smile on her face as she hugged her twin, but she spoke to Aelita. "Is everything ready inside?"

"Jeremy briefed me, so I did what I could, but you'll have to finish it yourself because no one else can be in the Tower with you when you materialize her."

"I know what to do." She seemed to force a smile as she went over to the two guys and gave them hugs. "Pray that my sister makes it back all right, won't you?"

They shrugged, not sure exactly why Janika was acting slightly morbid.

"Come on, Jira."

(V)

They stood inside. Janika worked with the digital console hovering in the air and pressed several options. Finally she turned back to her sister.

"Why on earth did you come here? Did you think it would be fun to play a joke on my friends?"

"I don't know. They thought I was you. I just went along. Didn't really think about it."

"You never really did. Why should I have expected you to do that today?" she finished her work at the screen and faced the other girl again.

"Why did you attack me?" Jira wondered. "You were always my opposite, weren't you? Shy and booksmart, thinking for hours before you made the simplest decision. What were you trying to do?"

"I was just acting the way I really am now in front of you for once. I'm not the goody-two-shoes you remember, Jira. That's not me anymore. I'm a Warrior, and I won't let you die if I can prevent it. Even if it means I won't live."

Jira grabbed her sister and clutched her shoulders tightly. "_What?_ No! Janika, you can't do this! You're my sister, my twin! You can't give up your life for me. I won't be able to live knowing you died because of my stupidity."

Janika moved faster than the eye could see, twisting out of the other girl's grip and throwing her to the floor where she was held down beneath a knee. The foreigner grunted "Mercy!" before she was allowed up.

"You won't even remember this, sis. And you can't stop me. Not now. I love you so much, I'd sacrifice myself a thousand times over for you. I know you'd do the same for me if you could."

Jira stared at her, saddened. "Why can't I cry? I want to…but I can't."

Janika pressed a final option onto the digital console and gripped her twin's hands in her own. The Tower began to hum around them and the twins hugged one final time. They floated like Aelita, but only a little ways above the platform.

And that was about the time that Odd forced Aelita to tell him what was going on. Before anyone could stop him, the panther-Warrior charged into the Tower shouting, "Janika, stop!"

The mechanical hum escalated suddenly with the addition of a new person in the Tower. Both girls jerked their heads about at his cry and he couldn't tell which was which. Light from all over the Tower gathered to them until it was too bright to see.

Odd was forced to shield his eyes and then Jeremy activated the return to the past sequence…

**Well, that's the end of that. Don't worry. There's still one more chappie for this episode. Everybody have a happy New Year's! Poll time: if you were to walk the "road less traveled" where would it take you? It's not really a philosophical question. (I'd probably end up falling off a cliff or a bridge or a balcony or some other precipice; that tends to happen to me)**


	7. Sister

**10-7: Sister **

**I'm actually a cheerful kind of person, so I'm no good at tragedies. Oh great, I spoiled it! Just act surprised anyway. **

(((-7-)))

Yumi and Ulrich waited at the bus stop. They tensed as the 2884 showed up and proceeded to drop off its passengers and take on new ones. Jira stepped off carrying a shoulder bag and looked around for her sister. Yumi stepped forward.

"You must be Jira. I'm Yumi and that's Ulrich. We're Janika's friends. She told us to wait here for you because she's away on a two-day field trip with a small group of kids at school."

That was the excuse they'd thought up. It wasn't that bad, but then it wasn't that good either.

Jira laughed, throwing her braid dismissively over one shoulder. "I never expected her to pull something like _this _to get out of the trip home. It's just as well, I suppose, since she wouldn't have gone anyway."

Both teenagers stared at her in astonishment. Ulrich stepped forward, stuttering, "Y-you mean she's really s-_staying?_"

Jira handed him her bag and began walking in the direction of the school. "She called home this morning on her cell and _begged_ Mom and Dad to let her keep studying at Kadic. She made some sappy excuse about having friends and actually enjoying herself. So they reconsidered. But since they'd already gotten the tickets for the bus, they sent me anyway."

Ulrich placed his hand on the girl's arm. "Janika actually has a _cell phone?_" he asked, shocked.

"Well, yeah! Doesn't everybody? She got it when she was sent here, but it's not like she ever uses it. I leave, like, twenty messages every week and I only catch her when she's in her room. She might as well have a cord-phone since she never carries it around. She's so stubborn!"

"You have no idea," Yumi muttered. "Wait a sec! She told us when she first came that her parents were separating or something?"

"Well, they were, but Mom got pregnant some time ago and it made Dad think over everything. They started going to counseling and decided to stick together after all. We're gonna have a baby brother!"

The black-haired girl looked at her friend, a bit confused and surprised at Jira's openness. Good thing she couldn't remember Lyoko or else the whole world would know about it by now. "Uh…congratulations. So you were just going to stick around for a day and hang out with her?"

"Pretty much. But since she's gone, I guess I'll just hang out with her friends." She cocked her head and looked at them shrewdly. "I feel like I've seen you guys before. Funny…I had the weirdest dream on the way over here and I think you two were in it."

They grew apprehensive and Yumi shuffled her feet a bit, thinking fast, but Ulrich saved the day. "I'm sure Janika sent you a picture of our group. Besides, you look a little familiar too."

Jira laughed raucously at that. "Maybe because I'm the twin of your best friend!"

The Japanese girl smiled at her. "You could stay in Janika's room tonight. Since you look exactly like her, no one would question you."

The girl who had the appearance of their lost friend considered their words. "I suppose I could masquerade as my sister for twenty-four hours. It's not like I haven't done it before."

(V)

Aelita and Jeremy took two-hour shifts, searching through all the data they could find. There were plenty of places to search on Lyoko and the near-void of the Digital Sea.

They were both red-eyed and tired, but refused to give up. Giving up meant that Janika was dead, and they couldn't accept that. The blonde teen insisted that she could have survived if there was a fluctuation in the Tower's modulator, especially when Odd entered.

Aelita remained silent, though, offering neither reassurance nor pessimistic remarks. Not until her fourth shift, that is. "She's not there. Jeremy, we've scanned all the Regions a dozen times. Janika isn't there."

"Then we'll scan them a dozen more times! We're just not looking hard enough. She has to be there someplace. Aelita, we can't relinquish this search, not for anything."

The materialized A.I. said nothing, but continued to look.

(V)

Odd sat on his bed. Kiwi sadly wagged his tail beside him, trying to discover what was wrong with his master. "She's gone," he told his canine friend. "She's gone and I didn't even get to say goodbye."

His eyes stung, but he refused to let the tears fall. Guys didn't cry. They just felt all the pain inside, kept it bottled up. Janika couldn't, not with her Special Ability active on Earth. She could have killed people with her Bloodlust. _"I'm out of control…"_

"Jeremy said he could find her. Do you think he can?" Kiwi didn't answer. He probably didn't understand the question. But he licked Odd's hand to comfort him and the punk hugged his dog tightly.

"She's alive. She has to be. Janika…"

**I'm not sure how many of you guys liked this bittersweet ending, but be assured that there will be a continuation. This is not the end! ****Poll: Some say love makes the world go 'round. What do you say? (I think it's insanity, which is the only reason druggies and highway perverts exist, but everybody needs a little insanity in their lives or else they'd die of boredom)**


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